A Christmas To Remember
by markaleen
Summary: It's the most wonderful time of the year! Sparks are flying all over the place! Especily between Harry and Christine. This is a story about friendship and romance... and the craziness of the Manhattan Night Court. Rated T just in case.
1. Mistletoe

**I do NOT own any of the rights to **_**Night Court **_**or any of its characters. I am just writing this out of, well boredom pretty much and also I absolutely love **_**Night Court **_**and all it's characters. I would love to hear what you think of my writing so I would appreciate feedback. Thanks!:)**

**I will be adding the chapters to this story as I write them so some may take long than others. Thanks.**

The Manhattan night court staff is in Harry's chambers on Christmas Eve celebrating.

Bull suddenly realizes the time.

"Oh no! Mom's going to be arriving soon! I have to be at the dock by 12:30!"

Harry looks at Bull, confused, "Dock? Bull I thought your mother was flying in?"

"Nope! She's sailing in! I've got to run! No time to chat! See you all tomorrow!" He scurries out the door before anyone can say anything.

Mac stands up getting ready to leave as well.

"Well I sure do hope he realizes that tomorrow's Christmas."

Roz stands up as well.

"Don't worry, He'll realize it once he shows up here tomorrow and no one's here."

"Well, I have some paperwork to finish up here before I go home… I feel bad for Quon Le. She was upset about me working on Christmas Eve. I'd buy her something nice but if I had the money I wouldn't be working Christmas Eve!"

Harry feels sorry for Mac.

"Well, maybe when she's asleep you can take something that she forgot that she already bought, pawn it, then buy her something at a really good sale…" Harry can tell that Mac didn't find his joke all that funny.

Mac smiles anyway… "I'll keep that in mind… Merry Christmas everybody."

The group replies to him with a, "Merry Christmas" back.

"I've got a bit of work left myself. She you all in a couple days."

The group says good night to Roz.

Out of nowhere a woman, who could very well be a hooker, wearing a very tight and trampy elf costume walks in.

"Danny… you ready too, _make _the season bright?" she says with a giggle.

Dan leaps up excited to get out of the party and quickly says, "Yes! Well had fun, great to see ya', hope to do it again sometime, Merry Christmas, ta ta, goodnight!" grabs his date and practically flies out the door.

Christine stands up, not necessarily shocked at Dan's behavior. "Yes, it's always nice to spend the holidays with _close _friends and family." She rolls her eyes along with Harry.

"Well… I guess I should be going too… Merry Christmas Harry."

"Merry Christmas Christine."

Christine starts to head to the door, then stops.

"Oh, and thanks again for my gift… I really love it."

Harry had given her a locket with a picture with everyone from work.

"And you for mine" He smiles.

She has given him a Mel Torme watch.

The two look at each other for a minute, then they both heat the clock strike midnight.

" I guess it's officially Christmas now." Christine glances at the window and notices that it's snowing.

"Oh Harry, look!" She points to the window.

"Wow! Would you look at that! Just as it hits midnight!"

"This is amazing! I don't think I've ever seen a white Christmas quite like this…"

The two sit and look out the window at the snow for a few minutes.

Christine takes a deep breath and smiles. "I really should be going."

"Yeah me too…" He looks up and sees 'mistletoe' hanging above them.

"But… not after a proper goodnight…"

Christine is slightly confused until she looks up and sees holly.

She smiles. "Oh look, there's _holly_."

Harry looks up again knowing that it's really holly. _Well it was collard greens last year; it can be holly this year. _"Nah… I'd say its mistletoe." He looks at her and smiles at her.

"Okay… whatever you say…" She says in a part sarcastic, part joking tone.

"You remember the tradition for being under mistletoe don't you? He grabs her arms and smiles, looking into her eyes.

Christine leans in closer to Harry, she semi-whispers, "Refresh my memory…"

They slowly start to kiss…

Mac walks into Harry's chambers, unaware of what was going on in there.

"Sir?" He looks up from the paper he was looking at and sees Harry and Christine sitting on the window seat.

Harry and Christine realize that Mac was there and immediately jump up.

"Mac!"

Mac smiles, "Hello…"

Humiliated Christine walks to the door not really looking up.

"Well, it's getting _really_ late, I _really _have to go. Goodnight Mac… Judge Stone…

Suddenly remembering that it's Christmas she slightly, not really showing her face, peaks in the door, "Oh yeah, Merry Christmas." She quickly leaves.

Mac is still looking at Harry with a grin. Harry fully knows that Mac saw him and Christine.

"Mac?"

"Yes Your Honor?"

"It's _not _what it looked like!"

"It looked like you and Christine were kissing."

"Okay, it's what it looked like. But it turned midnight, she was about to leave, it started snowing, we went to the window, we looked up at the mistletoe and then…" now getting mad, "then, you walked in!"

Mac looks above the window at the "mistletoe", "Looks like holly to me."

"It's mistletoe!"


	2. Don't Even Say It

Christine walks into the bathroom, still humiliated after what had happened in Harry's office, sees Roz washing her hands.

"Hi Christine."

She manages to say, "Hi Roz…"

Roz notices that Christine is acting, and even looking, different.

"Christine, what's wrong?"

It took Christine a minute to process Roz's question. Her mind was busy thinking of what had happened.

_Wait, she's asking what happened... you can NOT tell her! You're humiliated enough. Play dumb._

Like that ever works...

"What? Oh… nothing…"

"Oh really?" Roz knows Christine too well by know to know that it's never nothing.

"Yes… really…"

"Then why is your face all red? And why is your lip stick all smeared? And why are you acting… different. You're definitely not yourself right now."

_That's right Roz, pester me with questions... wait... oh no! my lipstick! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_

Christine looks into the mirror and wipes her mouth. "Roz, with all due respect. I'd really rather not say."

Roz shrugs, "Alright then." She knows the guilt will get to her.

Christine just stands looking at Roz for a few seconds. _Come on, she's your best friend you can tell her! No Christine! It's bad enough Mac knows, we don't need Roz knowing too… well… no! Be strong! You can do it! _But she feels to guilty not telling her, despite all that self-talk she was try to get to work.

"Alright! We kissed!" By now she was embarrassed beyond belief.

Roz smiles, "You and _who_, kissed?" She asked even though she had a pretty good clue.

"Me and… me and… me and-"

Annoyed Roz cuts her off.

"Come on girl! Spit it out already!"

Christine tries to say who. "Me… and…-"

"Harry! You and Harry!"

Christine just getting even more embarrassed, if that was even possible at this point, "How did? You know? Who it was?"

"Well, I narrowed it down to him, and that flasher you defended earlier…"

Christine just looked down trying not to make eye contact with Roz.

"Oh… good point."

Roz smiling again, "So… how was he?"

Christine was getting more annoyed now. "Roz! It was just an innocent little kiss under the mistletoe in Harry's office…"

Roz was getting a little bit confused, she hadn't remembered seeing any mistletoe in Harry's chambers…

_Mistletoe? What is she talking about? All I saw was…oh, of course._

"Are you talking about the _holly _in Harry's office?"

"It was mistletoe!"

Roz laughs, "Okay… if you say so…"

She keeps smiling, which Christine notices.

"I will have you know that we don't kiss on a regular basis."

"Okay, it's none of my business."

_But at least they finally did…_

Back to Mac and Harry in Harry's chambers.

"You and Christine… Boy, who woulda thought…" he says in a completely obvious sarcastic tone.

"Oh shut up Mac! And for your information… we do NOT make a habit of kissing after work!"

"Oh of course not Sir… just on occasion…"

"Mac! Do you really have to enjoy my humiliation?"

"Oh I'm sorry Sir… but you know, you and Christine-"

Harry stops Mac from finishing.

"Don't even say it."

He didn't want to hear it… he knew what he was going to say. He worked all these years trying to not think of him and Christine ever actually being together. He certainly didn't want to hear that they we're "cute" or "good" or "perfect" for each other. He was a judge, she was a lawyer.

They are good friends…

That's all they can be…

Right?


	3. Moments Of Silence

I'm not entirely sure when court workers get back from Christmas vacation or even if they have Christmas vacation, well for this story they get Christmas off and start working again on the 26th.

* * *

Also, sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter up! For some reason I was having so much trouble writing it! So sorry that it's pretty lame. ~markaleen

Harry walks up to the table in the cafeteria. The rest of the group is sitting there.

"Hiya gang! How goes it?" he sits down.

Everyone says 'hi' back and say that they're all fine.

They all finish eating and they start heading to the court room except for Christine and Harry who both go to pull each other aside.

They say each others names at the same time, look at each other, both insist the other talks first.

Christine ends up being the first to speak.

"I was wondering if we could talk before session?" she was trying not to look him in the eye much.

"Sure." He says a bit nervously, "Let's go to my chambers."

IN HARRY'S CHAMBERS

Harry and Christine sit in Harry's chambers for a minute, then at the same time, "Look, I'm- What? You first. No, you."

There's a brief pause.

Finally Harry says, "Miss Sullivan… Christine, I'm real sorry 'bout the other night…"

"No, don't be! I'm sorry, if I wasn't so hopelessly romantic this wouldn't have happened." _And if we had locked the door- Wait, what are you thinking? It was just a little kiss! It's not like this is the first time you've done this anyways! Well… it's the first time you've ever been caught…_

_Caught? You make it sound like you were doing something illegal! It's not illegal to kiss a judge... is it?_

Harry spoke, somewhat startling Christine because she was deep in thought, "Well, I do take some responsibility, I was the one who said 'hey look what we're sitting under' I also hung it there. Well, I hadn't really planned on it being more than decoration." _Although this wasn't bad…necessarily… _

"Well, I was the one who couldn't help herself and gave into-" she stopped herself right there. She didn't even want to think the rest of what she was about to say nevermind say it out loud… and to Harry! _Oh boy, nice going Christine... you know you're lucky you caught yourself this time... next time someday you're going to blurt something out and really regret it! You need to learn to think before you speak! I just REALLY hope he isn't going to say-_

"Gave into what?"

"Nothing…"

_He said it._

They stand in silence for a moment.

Christine broke the silence, "So what are we going to do?"

"What are we going to do about what?"

"This whole thing!"

"What whole thing?"

Christine starting to get annoyed, "Oh come on Harry, you know what whole thing… the kiss…"

"Oh…" he kind of knew what 'thing' she was talking about but sometimes her wondered… _No Harry… don't think it. It will just make things harder for the both of you. _"I'm not sure…" he suddenly remembers that this isn't the first time this has happened. "Well, wait a minute… It's not like this is the first time that we've… well, you know." He was never really comfortable when these talks came up. "There was the mistletoe that one year when we were snowed in because of the blizzard, and then the next year the collard greens that Buddy hung up..." _Come to think of it... I'm always the one who pressures her into it... oh great! She probably thinks I'm some... I don't know... some... pusher into uncomfortable situations..._

Christine most certainly knew… _Yeah... nice memories... when no one walked in. We could enjoy the moment then get on with our lives without a second thought..._

Well... maybe there _was _a second thought.

_Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop thinking of this! You're just going to get yourself into more situations like this where you can't control you're- _

_What is this! Do I need to think before I think!_

After she had her little moment in her head, she remembered that she was in the middle of a conversation with Harry. "I know that. But this is the first time that anyone's seen us… or even knew about it…"

"True…" _I liked it better when no one walked in. _

Another moment of silence.

"Well, I think our best bet is to do what we usually do, pretend that nothing happened and that nobody saw… or found out…"

Christine nodded in agreement and they both left Harry's chambers then headed too the court room to start this evening's session.

_That's it, pure and simple, go on with our lives as if it was just any regular day. This will be a piece of cake._

_Won't it?_


	4. Stubbornness

The night's session seemed to be a long one. Harry and Christine felt like everyone was acting… weird…

"What's the next case Mac."

"People versus, Newton."

"What's the charge?"

An instant smile came across Mac's face, "Indecent exposure."

Harry looks at Mac, confused, "Mac, why do you smile every time there's an indecent exposure charge, or prostitution, or anything similar?"

"Oh… no reason."

Christine looks at Harry with an, 'oh no' face. _Well I'm pretty sure Mac hasn't forgotten._

Harry tried to reassure her that everything will be fine with a, well, reassuring face.

_I wish she would just trust that everything will blow over soon enough. I mean, come on… it's not like Mac or Roz told anyone. Right?_

Harry tried to snap back to reality.

"Alright, call him in."

"Right."

A man in a trench coat walks in to the courtroom.

"Hello Mr. Newton."

"Hello Your Honor."

"So, I understand the charge is indecent exposure, right Mr. Prosecutor?"

Dan looks at his file. "Yes Mr. Dwayne Newton-"

Everybody is trying not to laugh, Harry can't help himself and interrupts Dan, "_Dwayne _Newton?" he tries so hard not to burst out laughing.

Mr. Newton speaks up, "Yeah… You got a problem with that?"

Harry still is trying not to laugh or smile, "No, no. It's a fine name." _Dwayne Newton... Oh boy, I needed that..._

_Still _trying his best to keep from laughing, Harry looks over to see Dan looking at him impatiently, "I'm sorry, Mr. Prosecutor, please continue."

"Thank you Your Honor. As I was saying, Mr. Newton was arrested in Central Park after several complaints about him flashing people."

"Ah... I see..."

Mr. Newton looking confused, "You do?"

"Yes... your coat is coming loose."

"Oh!" He looks proud.

"Would you mind... tightening it?"

"Well how come?"

Harry is about to speak when Dan jumps in... "Because we have ladies here! And they don't want to see your business!"

Bull says from across the room, "Only the ladies?"

Dan gives Bull a look that easily says 'Shut up you baboon'.

Christine getting pretty uncomfortable with this whole thing, "My client pleads guilty Your Honor."

"Okay... anything else?"

"Yes, he asks for the mercy of the court."

"Okay, let's make it 100 dollar fine and time served."

"Thank you Your Honor."

"What next Mac?"

"That was the last case sir."

_Finally._

"Okay folks, that's a wrap see you all tomorrow."

* * *

IN THE CAFETERIA

Harry's in line to pay for his food when Dan comes up next to him.

Dan just stares at Harry smiling.

Harry looks at him, then his food, then Dan again.

"Dan… if this is about money you can forget it."

"No, no, this isn't about money… it's about you and little miss hard to get." He continues smiling his cheesy smile.

Harry is surprised that Dan knew but he wasn't entirely sure why… it was pretty hard to keep a secret around here.

"Dan…"

"Yes?"

Harry was lost for words. _What do I say? I mean…what do I say? _

He was having enough trouble thinking, never mind speaking.

Dan wait for Harry to say something for a few moments. "I want details."

"Good luck." Harry pays for his food then walks to an empty table.

Dan follows, "Oh come on Harry! You're the first one out of us to get her to not be so… you know… her."

"What is this a competition?"

Dan pauses a moment then nods, "Yes."

"Dan!"

"Oh come on Harry stop stalling! Details!"

"In case you didn't hear me before, no!"

"You didn't say no, you said 'good luck' there's a big difference!"

Harry's starting to get very annoyed, "Fine, I'm saying it now… no!"

"Please! I promise! No one else will hear it from me!"

_If he doesn't shut up…_

"Fine Dan! It was just a little kiss under the mistletoe!"

"That's what they all say!

Just then Christine and Roz walk into the cafeteria and sit with Dan and Harry.

"Hey guys! So what are you to up too?"

Dan not looking at Christine, still trying to stare Harry down trying to get answers, "Stubbornness…"

"What?"

"Nothing… well I outta be going… goodnight everyone…" He leaves before this conversation goes on any further.

Roz starts getting suspicious, "What was that all about."

Dan starts playing dumb, "Oh… nothing… I should be going too…" He stands up and pats Christine's head. In a weird voice he says, "Goodnight…."

_Why do I get the strange feeling that he knows something? Well… he couldn't… really? Mac wouldn't tell… would he? But news travels fast around here… especially this kind of news… maybe Roz told him? No, couldn't be… Roz wouldn't do that… unless… maybe she told Bull! Okay, Christine! Now just stop it! For all you know this could just be Dan being his weird… odd… unusual self… yep, that's got to be it._

_But there's still a very good chance that it's the fact secrets cannot be kept here! Oh boy!_

Roz looks at Christine and can tell somethings not right. "Christine… is everything alright?"

"What? Oh… yeah…"

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely…"

_Not_.

* * *

Hi, I would just like to say that I have nothing against Wayne Newton and I'm not trying to make fun of him... I was trying to think of something to make this more... 'Night Court-y' (for lack of a better word)... hey... it was either this or a Justin Beiber joke... although... if I had used him... this note wouldn't be here (because that would defenitly be a joke!)... but I figured more people reading this would get Wayne Newton more than Justin Beiber.

Yes... I am very confusing. -markaleen


	5. Past, Banana, Future

I am so sorry that it's taking me so long to upload the chapters! Things suddenly got extremely busy! Thank you all for your patients ~markaleen

* * *

The next couple of weeks went pretty much the same way, especially when New Year's came around, with the whole 'traditional kiss' thing. That blew over pretty quickly though. By the end of January things seemed to be back to normal.

Seemed.

Roz sat down next to Christine in the cafeteria.

"How's it going Christine?"

"Good, Roz. How about you?"

"Fine."

They chatted for a few minutes until Harry walked up to the table.

"Hey ladies. Wacha up too?

"Nothing to exciting. Care to join us?"

"As much as I would love too, I have a bit of work to finish up before session. I really hate to miss all the fun you two are having." He nudges then both playfully.

"Haha, well there's always time in the future I'm sure."

Harry smiles, "Ah yes, the future… what a great thing. You never know what to expect. Always something new and exciting. Yeah sure, the past is great too! All the memories made, but the future brings chances for new memories to be made. Think about it… someday, we will be the past."

Roz looks at Harry funny.

"Your honer… don't take this the wrong way… but, are you drunk?"

"Roz!"

"No, no, it's alright Christine. Roz is right. I may have gone a little over board on that."

Roz and Christine both smile at Harry's charm.

Harry begins a toast.

"Here's to the future!"

"Uh, Harry? You do realize that your raising a banana, don't you?"

"As a matter of fact I do, Christine. You see, toasting drinks is so over done, it gets boring and dull after awhile. Yep, bananas are the way to go."

Christine giggled.

"And now, I must go tackle that paper work. See you too when session begins." Harry proudly twirled his banana in the air and cheerfully walked away.

He had a way to make everything fun. One of the things Christine loved about him…

Loved.

Roz smiled, "Oh! That reminds me…" she pulled out a card and handed it to Christine. "Here you go."

"What's this for?"

"Open it and find out."

Christine opened the card, smiling, not knowing what to expect.

Her smiled faded when she read the cover of the card.

"Happy Anniversary." She tried to hide what she was feeling, which was anger, disbelief, embarrassment, and even a bit hurt.

Roz continued to smile, "One month today right?"

"Honestly Roz, why is one kiss such a big deal? It wasn't a date, we didn't sleep together, hell, this wasn't even a random thing! It was Christmas! It's a tradition when your under mistletoe!"

"I still say it was holly."

"Oh, would you _please _let that go?"

"Sorry. Well if you two kiss on tradition, that means there was more than one kiss, and you even said, and also, kissing at midnight on New Year's is a tradition. Why not then?"

By now Christine was more than annoyed.

"Hmm, I wonder why? Maybe because there were a ton of people watching us to see if we were going to."

"Damn! We should have used reverse physiology!"

"Roz! Please!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry."

"I am too… I don't mean to snap but this is still really sensitive with me."

There was a sudden silence.

Christine sat thinking.

Why, why, why? I thought this was all over! The humiliation, the stress! I thought this was finally out over everyone's minds! Oh gosh… I'm starting to think that this will never end.

_But why? Really, this isn't the big deal everybody is making this out to be! We're talking about a kiss! A stupid, innocent… stupid kiss! This is insane! If every kiss in the world was such a big deal paparazzi would be surrounding Dan 24/7!_

_There's got to be more to this than just the kiss… but what? _

_That's it. No more wondering, no more tiring myself thinking about this. It's time to ask Roz why this has gone way out of hand._

_Wait a minute…_

_Didn't I just ask her two minutes ago?_

_Of course, she didn't answer._

She will this time.

"Okay Roz, tell me, and tell me the truth. Why is everyone making way to big a deal over this whole entire thing?"

Roz slightly sighed.

"Alright Christine, you want the truth?"

"Yes!"

"The truth is- Bull!"

"Bull? Roz really! Tell me! I need to know! It's killing me!" just then she felt someone with a tray of lumbering over her. "Oh… you meant, Bull… not… bull…"

"Yeah."

"Hello ladies! Mind if I join you?"

Christine was getting pretty tired of this charade.

"Actually, Bull, we-"

Quickly, Roz cut Christine off, thanking God for sending Bull at that perfect time.

Who knew she would ever be so happy to see Bull!

"Sure! Sit right down! Make yourself comfortable!" _Let someone else tell her the truth._

Bull grinned, "Thank yoooooou."

Roz and Bull started talking, Christine sat quietly, lost in her many thoughts.

This just figures! I was finally going to get the truth, for once and for all, but no. Not happening. Now I have to wait. Probably until after session. Oh great, that mean that I'm going to have to keep pushing this out of my mind all night. With the way my luck is going I probably won't find out for another month! I thought this was all over! This whole thing has made a horrible comeback!

_Stop it. Think positively; push this out of your mind. No time to lick your wounds. Focus on tonight's session. Think of what Harry said. Future. Who knows what the future will bring? This will soon be past._

She kept on thinking of Harry words about the future. She couldn't help but smile.

Who was she kidding?

No one.

She knew how she felt.

She just couldn't admit it.


	6. This Is No Joke

"Next case Mac?"

"That was the last one sir."

"Alrighty then folks, that's a wrap! Court adjourned!"

Mac walks up to Harry and gives him a card. Christine, as she's packing up her briefcase, sees and knows what's about to happen. There was no way she was going to go through that again, besides, she needed to find Roz. She packed her things up as quickly as she could and left to find Roz.

_I bet Mac and Roz planned this whole thing. Typical them._

"What occasion is this for, Mac? Oh no! Don't tell me! It's my birthday and I forgot about it!" he followed that sentence with the face he usual makes when he jokes around.

"No sir, I'm sure someone would have let slip before now. Why don't you open it up?"

Harry was starting to get a bit excited. He had no idea what to expect. He started to rip open the envelope. Once he read the card, he looked very confused.

"What is this? An anniversary card?"

"Well, of course! Oh, don't tell me you forgot you and Christine's one month anniversary!"

"Mac! Are you serious?"

"Of course, sir!"

"Why?" he could see where this was headed… hell.

"Come on, Harry! One month? That's a big deal!

"Oh yeah, that's a _HUGE _deal! Let's see… one month since one kiss? What is that? Dust?"

Harry couldn't believe that this was still going on. Though, at the same time, he wasn't surprised.

"Alright, I get it."

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Mac, if you got it we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Oh com on, lighten up! I'm just messing with you."

Mac couldn't believe that he was telling Harry Stone to lighten up.

Harry sat at his bench quietly.

_Oh, you have no idea just how much your messing with me, Mac._

_Really? Doesn't he know when to quit? Not just Mac, all of them! Enough is enough! _

_This is getting way outta hand._

_Well, the good thing is that I'm the one who got the card. Not Christine. No one would think to do this to her._

If only he knew…

I don't think she would take this very well. Especially if this was intended as a joke. I know a good joke when I see one, and this certainly is not a good one!

Aw… Christine…

She is so cute when she gets all sensitive!

Did I say cute?

No, no, it's been a long night. I'm just tired. Yep… that gotta be it.

Harry didn't realize that he was so deep in thought. Mac startled him when he spoke.

"Sir, Sir?"

"Huh?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah… why do you ask?"

"You had weird look in your eyes."

"Yeah? That's very interesting…" he didn't fully know what he was saying, or what Mac was saying for that matter.

Mac realized Harry wasn't paying attention.

"Hey Harry, did you hear the big news?"

"Of course I did."

"Oh good! I'm glad that I didn't have to be the one to tell you that Mel Torme was hit and killed by a bus."

"Yeah, it's great ain't it?"

Well if that didn't get his attention… nothing will…

I hated to go to such extremes but…oh, what's the use?

Mac left.

Hopefully I'll be able to get this out of him soon.

Harry continued to think.

Why can't I stop thinking about that women? I know there was a time when we told each other that we had feelings for each other, but I thought we were both over this. I thought that that these feelings were gone, and that we both matured, and excepted the fact that we were just friends and that's all that we'd ever be. How can they be coming back?

Oh, look at me. I shouldn't be thinking about how I feel… what about Christine?

How does she feel?

At that moment, that the biggest question of all.

To Harry…


	7. Snapping And Hiding

Everything suddenly got so crazy and confusing.

One thing happened…

Then seemed to be forgotten…

One month later…

Here we are.

Back at the beginning.

Christine was trying not to admit her feelings for Harry.

Harry was sort of the same way, but he knew deep down there was no denying them.

Christine kept trying to talk to Roz but every time she almost got it out of her there seemed to be some distraction stopping the conversation.

Harry was trying to avoid Christine as much as he could, and Christine was trying to avoid Harry as much as she could. Not because they were mad at each other or embarrassed by the cards, in fact, Harry didn't even know Christine had gotten a card. Christine wasn't 100% sure that Harry at gotten the same card she did, she just assumed. Roz had given her a card the same day, and Mac and Roz are the two people who knew.

Yes, they all knew, but Dan didn't really seem to care, he was far more interested in his own love life, if you could even truly call it that. Bull was in his own little world most of the time. Though, occasionally he would hint to Harry that Christine and him should be together.

* * *

Another long week went by.

Neither Harry nor Christine could take this stress much longer. They couldn't stop thinking about each other. It wouldn't have been as bad if it hadn't distracted them from their work.

"Defense… defense?"

Christine kept staring at the files in her hands.

Dan was getting really annoyed with this whole thing. It was getting extremely late and he had a date. This was also happening all week and he had had enough.

He tried to be patient but he didn't have all night.

"Miss Sullivan… Earth to Miss Sullivan!"

Christine looked up, "Oh… hi… what?"

"Defense!"

"Oh yeah… what case is this?"

Dan finally snapped.

"What case is this? What case is this! Are you loosing it? People versus Nickels! You got it now! People versus Nickels! The charge is vandalism! Vandalism!"

Everything in the courtroom was silent.

Christine was shocked, startled, and humiliated at the same time.

"Oh… sorry… my client pleads guilty…"

Everything was still quiet.

Mac nudged Harry.

"Your Honor?"

"Oh… defense?"

Dan could not believe that Harry had missed his whole outburst.

It probably would have been better if it stayed that way, but Dan just couldn't take it any longer.

"Both of you! Are you serious? Do you people forget where we are? You both are here, in the court! Where you, Christine, are a lawyer, a defense attorney! Your job is to defend the people! Harry, you are a judge! You decide if the people are guilty or not! Both of you are being stupid! Everyone knows that you two love each other! Everyone can see it! Even I can see it! Could you two just admit it so we can get some work done and get on with our lives!"

There was not one little sound in the room. You can't even imagine anything more silent.

Harry and Christine have never been so humiliated in their entire lives.

How could a stupid kiss cause so much chaos?

Christine was holding back tears with all her might. She ran out of the room as if there was a blazing, out of control fire after her.

Harry sat still for a second. He didn't know what to do.

To everyone's surprise he ran after her.

As he tried to find her, he thought.

_How? Why? Dan of all people! That kiss! Mac! Roz! The card! The freaking holly!_

He was not going to even bother calling it mistletoe. There was no point now. If they hadn't been so impulsive, they wouldn't be in this awful mess.

_Where the hell is she?_

He must have searched all over the 18th floor. Except for…

_Oh… this should add to all the fun._

He slowly walked into the ladies room. Luckily, he had finally found her.

She was sitting on the floor against the wall, crying her eyes out.

Harry sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"There, there Christine… don't cry. I know that that was humiliating, but we'll get through it."

She continued to cry.

"Oh come on! Someone saw us kiss, and then it made this happen! It's insane! Downright insane! This is over a month after it happened! This should have been over a week after it happened at the latest! But no! Now we have a room full of people that heard Dan yell that we love each other! But why should I worry? Everyone is over this whole kiss thing… now they have this! Will this ever end?"

She cried harder.

Harry was about to speak until he looked up and saw a bog lady standing in front of them, staring.

"Do you mind?"

The lady shrugged her shoulders and left.

Christine rolled her eyes.

"Great, add one more person to the list."

"I wouldn't worry about her. Who is she going to tell? The president?" he nudged her playfully hoping to cheer her up a bit.

That failed.

"How are you making light of this? Did you not see what happened out there?"

"Of course I did, but there's nothing we can do about it. It was said and that's final."

"So you're telling me that this doesn't bother you?"

"It bothers me quite a bit, in fact, it infuriates me!"

"Oh…" she wiped her eyes.

That sat quietly for a moment.

Christine spoke up.

"So what are we going to do about this?"

Harry sighed, "I have no idea…"

"You know, part of me just wants to quit so I don't have to face any of them!"

"I know, but that's not the answer."

"I know…"

"I think you could use a vacation."

Christine looked confused, "What?"

"You know, a vacation. Where you take time for yourself and relax."

"I know what a vacation is. Why do you say I need one?"

"Take a look around… you've had probably the most stressful and embarrassing past couple weeks of your life… Now, you're hiding in a restroom. I think you could use a week off."

"I guess you're right…" she sighed, "but what about you? The past couple weeks weren't a picnic for you either."

"Don't you worry about me." He stood up and held out his hand to help Christine up. "I just want you to go home, and take the next week off."

Christine smiled, "Thanks, Harry…" she hugged him, and then left.

She probably would have kissed him if she could.

Christine thought as she headed for her car.

Why do these things have to happen? I wish I could tell if this is fate pushing us together or if it's me being crazy.

_Harry's right… I really do need a vacation._

After Christine left, Harry stood in the bathroom.

Hopefully she will be able to relax and sort all this out.

_Now, I have to figure out how I'm going to sort all this out. I also have to figure out how I'm going to face the others._

_This should be fun._

Once again another women walked in and looked at Harry.

"I know what you're thinking so don't even say it."

He made sure he got out of there before the women had the chance to say anything.

To think we thought this was all over.

Nope. This is just the beginning of the next chapter.


	8. The Magic Of Pie And Courage

Harry and Christine, in a sense, talked about the situation, but then, at the same time they didn't mention it.

Christine took the next week off but she decided to just stay home and try to relax. It was starting to work until the door bell rang.

_Who could that be?_

She hadn't told anyone she was staying home.

She opened the door to find Harry standing there.

_Oh gosh. Why?_

She put on a smile

"Harry? Hi! What are you doing here?"

Harry smiled, "How did I know you here?"

Christine blushed a bit. Not enough to really notice though. "Come in."

Harry stepped into her apartment. He stood by the couch with his hands in his pockets.

Christine wasn't really sure why Harry was here. She wasn't sure if she wanted to find out either.

Who was she kidding? She wanted to know. Badly.

"So…"

"So."

"Well, I'm going to assume that there is a reason you came."

"Actually there is."

"Yes?"

He stuttered a bit.

"Well… uh… I've been thinking about the other day, and, uh, I know that we talked about how… embarrassing, what Dan said was, but, we uh… never really mentioned what was actually said."

Christine panicked a bit; she didn't know how to respond.

"Uhh… we didn't?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

_Let's PLEASE not talk about it now._

"Coffee?"

"No, thanks."

"Alright then… how about tea?"

"Nah."

"Kool-aid?"

"Christine."

"Name something, I'll go to the store and buy it."

"Christine, I know you're trying to the conversation."

_Think! Think!_

_Pie._

"Pie?"

"Ooh, pie?"

"Coconut cream pie! I'll go grab some!"

_Yay! That actually worked!_

She walked into the kitchen and quickly brought the pie into the living room along with two plates and forks.

She gave him a big piece.

_There, that should distract him for a bit._

Harry dug into his pie. He was about half way through it before he realized that she only gave him pie as clever distraction from the conversation he need to have with her but was to fearing.

_The clever thing._

"Hey sneaky, how did you know that this pie would stop me from talking?"

Christine smiled slightly.

"The same way you knew I wasn't leaving here for my vacation."

Harry smiles and took one more bit of his pie before he set it down on the coffee table.

"We really need to talk."

She sighed.

"Why? Why do we always have to talk about every little thing that happens?"

"Well, about this specific 'thing' that happened, I figured that when you get back to work, instead of having to say 'no' every time someone asks, 'Did you talk it all out?', you could save time and just say yes so they won't ask again."

"So I take it people are talking?"

"Yes, but not as much or as badly as you would think."

"That's good, I guess…"

"Look Christine, I've been thinking a lot about what Dan said…"

Christine looked away from Harry.

_I guess there's no stopping it._

"I have too…"

"And?"

"And…" _Alright Christine, you can do it. Tell him the truth. Tell him now. There's nothing and no one who can interrupt you. _"and.. I… I… on for Pete's sake, I think he's right!"

_I can NOT believe I just said that._

Harry was pretty surprised by her response.

Surprised, but very happy.

Yes, he did do a lot of thinking and he finally realized the fact that he truly loved Christine, and that he has loved her for the past five years now, and there was no denying it.

"You do?"

She couldn't bear to look at his face.

"Yes."

She could have cried but she didn't.

"Oh thank God!"

With that reaction she could look at his face.

"What?"

"I think he's right too!"

"Really!"

They were both ecstatic, but then, Christine wondered if Harry though she meant she agreed with what Dan said about their jobs, not about them being in love.

"Really." He smiled.

Christine thought for a moment.

I really wish I knew if he knows what I mean. I wish I could ask him what he thinks I mean but that could ruin everything. But I really want him to know that I love him!

_He had to know what I mean! Look at his face…look at HIM. He is so adorable!_

She couldn't hold it in any longer.

She leaned over and kissed him. Passionately. Lovingly. And to her surprise and relief, he kissed her right back.

_Wow. He's a good kisser!_

Harry thought the exact same about her.

After awhile, which felt like a glorious eternity to them, they looked at each other and smiled.

"And no one walked in on us."

Christine giggled and kissed him again.

Harry pulled away, not much, but just that he could look her in the eyes and say the words he had longed to say for what seemed like forever.

"I love you, Christine"

"I love you too, Harry. With all my heart."

Their next kiss turned into a night of wonderful passion.

Christine returned to work the next day with Harry. Neither of them could wait to tell everyone the great news. Everyone was so happy for them.

Next Christmas, at the stroke of midnight, at the same place where they had kissed the year before, Harry proposed to Christine. She accepted in a heartbeat. Three months later they were married. Sixteen months after that, on July 30th, Christine gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who Christine and Harry named Abigail Grace Stone.

Their story may not completely be a fairy tale, there were no castles, no knights is shinning armor, but Harry and Christine, and of course Little Abby, indeed did live,

Happily ever after…

The end.

* * *

Thank you all who have read and reviewed! I was extreamly nervous this story being my first fanfic. I really did enjoy writting this and look foward to writting more. Thank you all again for all of your support! It was (and still is) greatly appreciated along with all of your feedback. ~markaleen


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